Bo Hussung

Okay, so your are reading some of the books that I suggested a couple of weeks ago in my previous post. Perhaps you have even added some of your own to your personal sales /motivational library from which to pick. Either way, now is the time in the planning to understand where you have been. This allows you to determine your effectiveness and then identify the strengths and weaknesses in your approach, make the appropriate changes in your planning and set an action plan.

I am amazed at the number of experienced sales and business development professionals that do not do what I am getting ready to do or worse even know how. Either way whether you are new at this or a seasoned veteran, this is a critical part of measuring you effectiveness as a sales person. What am I referring to?….numbers! Understanding the numbers of your efforts. One thing is certain, numbers don’t lie. They paint a clear picture of where you have been and give a solid map of where to go. There are all sorts of names for this step; metrics, statistics, measurement, conversion or just plain ole numbers. The trick is to make sure that the numbers are accurate. Bad numbers, equal delusion. Kind of like garbage in, garbage out. So here is how it works.

First ~ list your monthly income (salary, commission, etc.) If annualized then divide by 12
Second ~ make a list of every successful sales/contract made in the last 90 days /60 months and 12 months
Third ~ make a complete list of every call you have made in the same period of time as above and break it down to 1st call, 2nd call, etc.

At this point and depending on how deep you want to dig, it’s time to plug the numbers into the following formulas. It is pretty simple to do, the trick is to know what to do with the information. 1. gives pull-thru or conversion ratios, 2. is a measure of time versus money or how much money is spent on every call attempt.

1. Successful calls divided by all calls.
2. Income divided by all calls and Income divided by successful calls

The next step is to analyze the data and then figure out what to do with it. I’ll catch you next week with that piece of the puzzle.

Until next time, my friends,
Stay sharp and think successfully!